Tholu Bommalata: Bringing The Traditional Craft To Your Modern Wardrobe
Since its inception, Indu Diva has been striving to bring the traditional crafts of the country to the modern Indian woman in contemporary forms. We aim at making sure that the indigenous crafts are not forgotten or overshadowed by Western styles, and hence we embrace the heritage techniques to create contemporary pieces that can be flaunted by today’s women in style!
One of the most beautiful craft forms that we’ve worked with , is the Tholu Bommalata , which has its origins in Dharmavaram, Andhra Pradesh. This craft originated from the ancient shadow puppet theatre culture which used to be performed by groups of wandering folk artisans. The name literally means “the dance of leather puppets”. Expert puppeteers crafted puppets out of animal skins/leather and handpaint them in vibrant colors to depict mythological characters from the Ramayana & Mahabharata.
We, at Indu Diva, have taken the craft and given it a contemporary spin in the form of stylish jewellery that will add a touch of fusion fun to your wardrobe. This ancient art has been adapted by us to create wearable accessories that can dress up your ethnic attires as well as western outfits in effortless style. We work extensively with skilled artisans from this Andhra Pradesh craft cluster to make unique handcrafted wearable jewellery with this art form as the focus of the pieces. Goat leather is cured, crafted and handpainted by these craftsmen to give shape to designs developed by Indu Diva – the Devi, the fish, the elephant and the owl ,being some of our popular styles.
Over the years, our Tholu Bommalata jewellery have become pretty popular and , in fact, gone on to become one of our bestsellers! We have loved taking this ancient art form and combining it with various materials like Rudraksh beads, braided strands, textile threads, wooden beads and more to create stunning pieces that can occupy a treasured place in your wardrobe. Our Tholu Bommalata jewellery have gone far & wide, from being embraced by local fashionistas to being flaunted on foreign grounds – we have proudly sent a part of Indian heritage to new homes across the world.
In this day and age, when supporting homegrown brands and local artisans is what our economy needs, we urge you to make this gorgeous craft form a part of your jewellery box and add a piece of tradition to your contemporary closet. Our versatile Tholu Bommalata pieces will uplift your looks in an instant and make you stand out in the crowd wherever you go!
